Review Jim Jarmusch, Pushing Style To Its 'Limits' April 30, 2009 • The director's latest is the ultimate Jim Jarmusch joint: a story that isn't really a story, with characters who aren't really characters, a movie hyper-aware of its own status as a movie. Nathan Lee says it's dazzling. (Recommended)
Review A Mother's Struggle To Find 'Home' — And Self April 30, 2009 • Mary Haverstick's drama about a mother struggling to reinvent herself stars Marcia Gay Harden and her actual daughter — both appealing. But the film's virtues don't extend beyond the anecdotal.
High-Def 'Hunt For Gollum,' New Lord Of The Fanvids April 30, 2009 • In Britain, die-hard Lord of the Rings fans have put together a 40-minute film "inspired by" the Peter Jackson trilogy. It looks gorgeous. It's free to download starting May 3. And it's totally unauthorized.
Culture Gabriel Byrne And The Art Of Listening Fresh Air April 30, 2009 • Actor Gabriel Byrne is so convincing and sympathetic in his role as a psychoanalyst on the HBO series In Treatment that people have started telling him their problems.
Talking 'Tyson' With Filmmaker James Toback Fresh Air April 27, 2009 • In his new documentary, the director of Two Girls and a Guy turns his camera on Mike Tyson — who's been his friend since the former boxer was 19.
Technology Technology: Plot Inconvenience For Writers April 25, 2009 • NPR's Scott Simon speaks with novelist Thomas Perry and TV producer Marti Noxon Bynum about how to make fictional plotlines believable in a time of rapid technological development. How does a storyteller create tension when characters can sidestep traditional obstacles with a simple cell phone call or text message?
Culture The Real Story Behind 'The Soloist' Fresh Air April 24, 2009 • The friendship between Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist, and Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless musician, has inspired newspaper columns, a book and now a movie. In 2008, Lopez joined Fresh Air to describe his friendship with Ayers.
Review Powerful Mystery Man Of Italian Politics April 24, 2009 • Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti dominated Italian politics for much of the second half of the 20th century, despite alleged ties to the mafia. Il Divo explores the mysterious influence of an urbane leader. Recommended
Review Mike Tyson, The Damaged Everyman Fresh Air April 24, 2009 • James Toback has created a new documentary about Mike Tyson, the ex-boxing world champ. Movie critic David Edelstein says that Toback's mix of old and new footage "flows seamlessly" and that the stream-of-consciousness movie is "revelatory."
Review From Juilliard To Skid Row In 'The Soloist' April 24, 2009 • When Robert Downey Jr., as journalist Steve Lopez, discovers Jamie Foxx, playing a homeless man who happens to be a talented musician, he enters into a complicated relationship that changes the lives of both men.
Opinion Essay Detroit's Big Screen Image Problem April 24, 2009 • Steve Inskeep prepared for his trip to Detroit by watching movies that riff on the city, such as: Gran Torino, 8 Mile, Gross Pointe Blank, and Airplane.
Review Snapshot Of An Empty Era In 'The Informers' April 23, 2009 • Washed-up rock stars and sparkling starlets populate the decadent, intertwined tales of The Informers — a new film based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis.
Review More Snakes Than Blooms In 'The Garden' April 23, 2009 • What's not to like about a documentary that takes up the cause of impoverished Latinos trying to keep their community garden from being snatched by greedy fat cats and maneuvering pols? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
'Soloist' Reflects Director's Fears And Fascinations April 23, 2009 • The Soloist director Joe Wright talks about the difficulties of filming on Skid Row and the challenges of portraying mental illness on screen.
The Long Road Home For A Cuban Baseball Legend April 22, 2009 • Luis Tiant left Cuba in 1961 to play pro baseball in the U.S. In 2007, at the age of 67, he made a bittersweet return to his homeland. Filmmaker Jonathan Hock, who documented the trip in The Lost Son of Havana, talks with Robert Siegel.